If you run a small business or any enterprise for that matter, you need a website. We're well into the 21st century by now and current and future clients and customers expect you to have some kind of web presence. A decade ago, you'd need to hire a web developer to take care of this for you. Thankfully, that's no longer the case and anyone can set up a simple website with a Content Management System. The most popular CMS for blogs and websites is Wordpress. It's easy to install and configure, and the whole process can be accomplished in a few simple steps.

Setup A Domain Name and Web Host

Obviously, you'll need to buy a domain name from a registrar and purchase a hosting package. Your web host will give you all the details you need to login to your hosting account, such as your user name and password. You'll need an FTP Client if you don't have one already. Filezilla is a good option, but really any will do and your operating system may already have one installed by default. Alternatively, you can just use your web browser to upload files through the web panel.

Install Wordpress

First, download the Wordpress .zip file from their website. Unzip the package to your desktop. Then, use your FTP client to upload that package to the root directory of your web hosting account. Many hosts feature automatic installation scripts like Fantastico which take care of all the installation details for you. For beginners, it's the best way to go. Contact your web host for more details on automatic installation options. Once installed, enter “http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin” into your browser and login with your user name and password.

Customize Your Site

One security issue you'll want to take care of is creating a new root user other than "admin". Once you have a new user with full privileges, delete "admin". Then you can skin your site with new themes through the “Themes” section within your administrative panel. You simply choose whichever theme looks good to you and click “Install”. If you know a little HTML and CSS, you can further customize individual themes by tweaking the markup and source code within the theme files.

Conclusion

Once you've gotten your site up and running, you can look further into adding functionality through various additional plugins. Wordpress has a variety of helpful plugins that can make blogging easier and more efficient. You can add Social Media buttons, RSS tools and even Shopping Cart features to turn your Wordpress install into a full-fledged E-commerce platform. Whatever your needs, Wordpress offers you a way to accomplish your goals quickly and easily without breaking the bank.

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